Referral of patients with temporomandibular joint dysfunction from Primary Care

Conclusiones: Por su elevada prevalencia, el SDTM constituye un foco interesante de acción a la hora de optimizar los tratamientos y minimizar el gasto dentro de las entidades maxilofac iales. Este trabajo pone de manifiesto la situación actual y alerta sobre la necesidad de elaborar protocolos de derivación en consenso con Atención Primaria.ABSTRACT Introduction: Temporomandibular joint syndrome (TMJS) includes a wide range of signs and symptoms that vary from mild pain in masticatory muscles to inability to open and close the mouth, and even irreversible joint derangement. Management is controversial, with the more acute inflammatory episodes being good candidates for conservative treatment. These patients do not need, at least initially, to be evaluated by a maxillofacial surgeon. As a maxillofacial referral centre in the Madrid area, it seems that patients affected by this syndrome are referred to our centre from Primary Care on a large scale, and are completely uninformed about their disorder. If this is the case, unnecessary direct and indirect health care costs would be increased, as well as contribute to medical consultation overload. Material and methods: A prospective analysis was performed on TMJS patient referral from Primary care to the Hospital Universitario La Paz during a 6 months period. A self-report anonymous questionnaire was also completed by the professional and the patient in order to collect data. Results: Of the101 patients evaluated, 35.6% had...
Source: Revista Espanola de Cirugia Oral y Maxilofacial - Category: ENT & OMF Source Type: research